St. Charles, Naperville soldiers earn Silver Stars

St. Charles native and U.S. Army Spc. Richard Bennett thought only of his fallen comrade's peril when he bolted through heavy gunfire to aid the injured medic during a mission in eastern Afghanistan.

Bennett remained focused on his “brothers” Tuesday after he and Army 1st Lt. Stephen R. Tangen of Naperville each collected a Silver Star medal for their separate actions under fire there this summer. The pair was among six Army soldiers earning the third-highest award for bravery in combat given by the military. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates presented the honors in person to the soldiers for their actions during various Operation Strong Eagle missions in the Kunar province.

“It was an incredible honor that the secretary of defense would come. It was a little overwhelming,” said Tangen, according to a Department of Defense news account. “Forward Operating Base Joyce gets attacked almost every day, so just the fact that he would come to a remote FOB like this and put his life on the line it doesn't happen every day.”

Noted recipients of the honor include Lt. Col. Oliver North, Gens. George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, as well as Sens. John Kerry and John McCain. More recently, former Arizona Cardinals football player Pat Tillman, who died in friendly fire in Afghanistan, was given the award posthumously.

Heroic actions must be “performed with marked distinction” to earn a Silver Star, an honor bestowed for acts that do not rise to the level deserving of a Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross.

“As far as the award, it is for my platoon. I may have gotten it, but we were all there that day and all of us went through that,” Bennett wrote in e-mail from Afghanistan.

Bennett and his 101st Airborne platoon were on a mission on foot in a valley along a mountainside when they came under heavy fire. During the skirmish, the platoon medic was shot in the neck and he was lying face down on a porch.

“My stomach dropped out,” Bennett wrote. “There are literally no words I can use to fully understand the feeling you get when you see that. … I've been working with Doc as our platoon medic for a long time and he's a good friend of mine. The first thing I thought when I saw him was that I needed to help him right away.”

Seeing the fellow soldier was pinned down by enemy bullets, Bennett left his cover provided by a tree and ran to provide aid and protection for his comrade.

“He ran 35 meters under a hail of gunfire,” said his mom, Lisa Bennett.

Bennett dropped down atop the injured man using his own body to shield the medic while he assessed his injuries, he recalled.

He then pulled the man into the vacant house as gunfire continued. Bullets “peppered” the building, and as he waited for the gunfire to subside, he looked at the bullet-ridden wall and was reminded of a scene from the movie “Pulp Fiction.” In the scene, two characters survive a hail of gunfire unscathed, much like Bennett.

“It was one of the single craziest moments I've ever experienced,” he wrote.

The man Bennett saved, and another soldier who was nearby and wounded by a bullet to the hand, survived and are recovering from their wounds.

The award-winning soldiers' parents were thrilled for their sons.

“I'm incredibly proud of him, but I always have been,” said Bennett's mom, Lisa Bennett, of Geneva. “He's always been a person with courage in his convictions … and unafraid.”

She continued, “He's with an impressive group of soldiers over there too. He really sees those guys in his platoon as brothers. He knows they would do the same for him. They're all heroes.”

Bennett's father, South Elgin Police Sgt. Richard Bennett, said it was the second-best news he could get about his son.

“The Silver Star … wow. I'm on the verge of tears now,” said his father, who lives in Elgin. “It doesn't surprise me. He's been a heck of a kid his whole life. I don't think he even thought about it. He just reacted. The only better news is if he was coming home.”

Likewise, Andrew Tangen was impressed but not surprised by his 24-year-old son's heroic actions.

“They're like his family,” said Tangen, whose three sons are all Eagle Scouts. His eldest son, Andrew, is a lieutenant in the Navy and also deployed in Afghanistan. “It's just who they are. They're doing what needs to be done.”

Tangen suspects his son, who didn't share details in a weekend call home, was honored for his efforts to save his staff sergeant and close friend during one of the mission's firefights. Staff Sgt. Eric Shaw of Massachusetts died in Stephen Tangen's arms as he tried to move him to safety, Tangen wrote to his family.

“He's a very humble young man,” Andrew Tangen said of his son.

Bennett, 29, graduated in 2000 from St. Charles High School. He attended Aurora University and Northern Illinois University, and then worked as a personal trainer for a few years before enlisting just after President Barack Obama's election to office.

Bennett and Tangen, who are in the 101st Airborne based out of Fort Campbell in Kentucky, arrived in Afghanistan in May for a one-year deployment.

Bennett plans to return to college for an education degree. Tangen, who is a 2004 Naperville North High School and 2008 West Point graduate, plans to attend medical school and become a doctor.